Why You Should Be Utilising LinkedIn

Ok this blog might be a bit biased towards LinkedIn, given I'm a fan, but this isn't going to stop me from sharing my views on why you should be using this powerful tool.

To keep this under five minutes of reading time I’m just going to dive into three main reasons why I believe you should be utilising LinkedIn (I’m going to stay away from group and company pages as this will be a separate blog in itself).

So my number one is to PROMOTE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND.

"Personal branding is injecting you into your business. It's your voice, your look, your personality. It’s how people remember you, know you. "

This starts with an all-star profile which tells people about you via your summary, where you are currently working, your previous work experience, your passions, skills plus a very important part of your profile, recommendations from others.

Imagine your profile as a car, the sexier it looks the more people that will be attracted to it. Aim to make your profile look like a Lamborghini and then drive it at full pace.

Keep your personal branding strong and consistent. With time will come followers and with high engagement (posting, blogs, comments, replies) your brand will change from a social media participant to a social media influencer.

Secondly look to utilise LinkedIn to ENGAGE with people.

Connect with people who either interest you and who you what to learn more from, to work colleagues and people of influence in your industry. Engagement is one of the main keys to any social media platform and will obviously assist in building relationships that you might never have had without reaching out online.

Make sure when connecting and engaging with people via the digital world that you approach this as if you were doing this face to face. Show them the same courtesy and respect as you would do if you were sitting down having a coffee with them. Having great digital manners also goes a long way to strengthening your personal brand in the market place.

Check out one of my previous blogs titled Digital Manners for further insights into being professional and respectful in the online world.

View the birthday and anniversary notifications as an opportunity to reach out to your connections by sending them a personal message (please don’t use this time to send through any sale pitches, keep this upbeat and real). On the flip side ensure you reply to all the messages you receive and yes even the product pushing messages that we all get. Understand this can take some time but if you’re not going to engage and respond to your followers then you need to ask yourself, why are they your followers in the first place?

Business opportunities will arise from your approach to consistently engaging people along with your strong brand presence and influencing mannerism. Avoid sending direct sale pitches to people whom you’ve never engaged with before, this does not work!

Lastly LinkedIn can provide you with the opportunity for CAREER ADVANCEMENT.

Along with showcasing your talents via your profile, you have the ability to keep up to date with the latest job postings, both in the newsfeed and also by following your favourite companies.

From personal experience I have met many different people through LinkedIn and you just never know where these relationships can take you. Along with meeting some amazing people, I have received many different job offers via this platform (very flattering, red face).

I’ll leave you with this summary –

Always keep your eyes open and continue to showcase your personal brand by utilising LinkedIn's features along with a consistently high level of engagement and captivation

Regards

Dino Pacella

Multi Award Winning Business Development Manager

Founder of National Finance Brokers Day

Disclaimer:

This content has been prepared for general information purposes only, all views expressed are my own and is not (and cannot be construed or relied upon as) personal advice, as it does not take into account your personal, financial situation or market conditions.